A point of sale (POS) terminal comprises hardware and software used for checkouts. Such systems are widely used in retail establishments, including, but not limited to grocery stores, restaurants and countless other places of business. Among the various types of equipment used by POS terminals is a barcode reader (or barcode scanner). Recently, some POS terminals include NFC payment systems.
As is well known, a barcode reader optically senses a barcode image and produces electronic signals corresponding to the sensed image. One type of reader is a pen-type reader that consists of a light source and a photodiode that are placed next to each other in the tip of a pen or wand. The photodiode measures the intensity of the light from the light source that is reflected back by white spaces in the barcode. Processing circuitry generates a waveform corresponding to the widths of the bars and spaces in the barcode. The waveform is then decoded.
Another type of reader is a digital camera or CCD reader, which uses an array of light sensors to measure the intensity of emitted ambient light from the bar code immediately in front of it. A voltage pattern identical to the pattern in a bar code is generated in the reader by sequentially measuring the voltages across each sensor.
Neither a pen-type nor a CCD/camera-type reader is the most popular type of reader for POS terminals. Laser scanners predominate. In general, they work the same way as pen type readers except that they use a laser beam as the light source and typically employ either a reciprocating mirror or a rotating prism to scan the laser beam back and forth across the bar code. As with the pen type reader, a photodiode measures the intensity of the light reflected back from the bar code. In both pen readers and laser scanners, the light emitted by the reader is rapidly varied in brightness with a data pattern and the photodiode receive circuitry is designed to detect only signals with the same modulated pattern. Laser scanners operate quickly and reliably. With an arrangement of mirrors and lenses, a laser scanner station of a POS system effectively scans barcodes on merchandise so long as the barcode is passed through the scanning field, even though the barcode may not directly face the scanner and may never come to a complete rest in the scanning field. Pen and CCD scanners cannot do this.
While conventional laser scanners are superb at reliably scanning printed barcodes, for various reasons they cannot reliably scan barcodes displayed as images on electronic displays. Some CCD/camera type scanners are useful for scanning barcodes displayed as images on electronic displays; however, for various reasons, these types of scanners are not in widespread use. One reason may be that they require the barcode to be stationary immediately in front of the scanner. Such precise positioning requirements would cause the grocery checkout process to grind to a halt. Another reason is relatively high cost. Most retailers have little or no reason to abandon their fully functional laser scanners for more temperamental and costly CCD/camera type scanners.
In recent years, secure payment has become a concern. Stolen credit cards may be used for purchases. Clerks rarely verify a credit card user's identification, and when they do, they are not trained to determine if identification is authentic.
Concomitantly, in recent years, convenient payment mechanisms have emerged. Many individuals prefer a smart phone over wearing a wristwatch for telling time. Many of the same individuals prefer a smart phone over carrying a bulky wallet containing cash and credit cards that are vulnerable to theft. To meet this need, various innovators have devised wireless RF payment mechanisms, particularly near field communication (NFC) payment systems. NFC employs protocols that enable certain smart phones and point of sale (POS) payment devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching the devices together or bringing them into proximity to a distance of typically 10 cm (3.9 in) or less. Through magnetic induction between two loop antennas, located within the phone and POS payment device, effectively forming an air-core transformer, NFC operates at 13.56 MHz on ISO/IEC 18000-3 air interface and at rates ranging from 106 kbit/s to 424 kbit/s.
An example of an emerging NFC payment systems is Google Wallet, which allows consumers to store credit card and store loyalty card information in a virtual wallet on a smart phone and then communicate payment information to compatible NFC-enabled POS payment devices (e.g., PayPass-enabled terminals). A competitor to Google Wallet, Apple Pay also uses a virtual wallet, but only works with iPhone 5 and later models smart phones and some late model Apple tablets, and only works with POS systems equipped with compatible Apple hardware.
While a user of an NFC-equipped smartphone may avoid carrying a wallet for certain payments, the mechanism is not without problems. Among the problems with these new wireless payment mechanisms is cost. Merchants must invest in new payment processing equipment and software for every checkout lane. Not only is this expensive, but it is fraught with risks—the risk of incompatibility with existing software and hardware, the risk of failure of the software or hardware due to bugs, the risk of inadequate consumer adoption to justify the expense, the risk of a superior alternative system prevailing in the marketplace, much in the way VHS tapes prevailed over Betamax in the 1980s.
Additionally, communicating payment information wirelessly, even over a short range, incurs risk. Notwithstanding any encryption, radio frequency communication risks eavesdropping, data corruption and manipulation, and interception.
Many consumers possess smart phones that work well, but are not equipped for NFC communication. Smart phone manufacturers prefer that consumers upgrade their phones to the latest models equipped for NFC communication. Cellular service providers also prefer such upgrades, for the attendant profit and consumer commitment to the carrier. Thus, there is little to no incentive for smart phone manufacturers or cellular service providers to promote wireless payment systems for the countless phones that are not equipped with NFC communications equipment.
Even users of smart phones equipped with NFC payment systems face limitations due to incompatibilities. As many retailers accept NFC payments via one brand/method of NFC payment, but not another brand/method, or no payments via NFC, consumers must still carry their credit and debit cards. Few if any consumers are equipped to take advantage of every possible NFC payment methodology. A consumer with an old model smart phone or a smart phone equipped for payment using one particular brand of NFC payment methodology, cannot pay by NFC at a retailer that accepts only a non-compatible NFC payment methodology.
What is needed is a secure smart phone payment mechanism that enables wireless payment processing over alternative wireless payment gateways, including one gateway that employs hardware already included in the vast majority of smart phones and the vast majority of POS payment systems.
The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems and solving one or more of the needs as set forth above.